Woman's body tied to cinder block found in Pennsylvania pond

POTTSTOWN, Pa. (AP) — A woman's body was found tied to a cinder block in a popular swimming and fishing hole near Philadelphia, authorities said Tuesday.

Chester County officials said someone reported seeing a body in the pond Monday morning in East Coventry Township.

Police and fire departments, along with the coroner's office, responded to the scene. They didn't realize the body was tied to a cinder block until they tried to remove it.

Children had been swimming in the pond Sunday afternoon, so the body had been deposited sometime after that, the district attorney's office said.

Authorities were trying to identify the woman, who was about 25 to 35 years old, and then hoped to determine how she died and who was involved, prosecutors said. They released photos of jewelry and clothing she was wearing and a tattoo on her left shoulder.

The body had no gunshot wounds or blunt force trauma and no signs of strangulation, officials said. There was no water in her lungs, indicating that she didn't drown and "she was dead when she was placed in the water," the prosecutor's office said.